2008 Partouche Poker Tour - Cannes

Day 1b completed

Posted 09-05-2008 14:48 GMT+3

That'll Do It

With approximately nine minutes remaining in level eight, the media was asked to leave the tournament room signaling the end of today's action.

The tournament clock showed 117 players when we last checked, so pending no more eliminations, 216 players will return to the felt tomorrow afternoon for Day 2.

The tournament staff has informed us that the prizepool will not be released until later this evening, therefore, we'll make that information available to you as soon as we get it. End of Day 1b chip counts will also be posted at that time.

Our coverage will resume tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 p.m. local time (9:00 a.m. EST). Until then, from Cannes, France, good night and good luck!

Bellande Doing Work

We weren't kidding about the action on Table 12. We pick up another hand on the flop with the board showing . Two players check over to Jean-Robert Bellande, who makes a bet of 4,000. David Williams makes the call, and a player behind him moves all in over top of the table from the button position.

Bellande asks, "How much," but before the dealer can count it down, he makes up his mind: "I call, I call, I call." Williams ducks out, showing , and the hands of the live players are turned over:

Bellande:
Opponent:

The turn and river are favorable to Bellande, coming and respectively. He earns his second giant pot within just a few hands, this time knocking out a player and vaulting back up to 81,000.

Tags: David Williams, Jean-Robert Bellande.

The Busiest Table in the Room

Action is going great guns over at the table of Jean-Robert Bellande and David Williams. Bellande has lost two big pots recently to a young Scandinavian player on his right, and it has taken a visible toll on the pro. His body language has grown impatient and frustrated, and his chatty nature has turned mouse quiet as he gets back down to business.

In the latest string of action, Bellande limps into the pot from early position. Next door, David Williams bumps it up to 2,500. The table folds back to Bellande who doesn't take long to move all in for 22,950. Once he gets the count, Williams matches the bet with a big stack of blue T1,000 chips that he can easily afford to gamble with.

Bellande stands up out of his chair, turns over his and steps back from the table. Williams tables . When Bellande looks back to see what he's up against, he lets out a pleading, "Oh, Dave!"

With Bellande's tournament life hanging in the balance, the dealer runs out the board: . Williams fails to eliminate his fellow pro, and gives him a courtesy double up to 47,000.

"You're the only person in the world that that holds up against," says Bellande, jesting with his friend. Williams is still doing just fine, but has dropped back under the 60,000-chip mark.

Tags: David Williams, Jean-Robert Bellande.

Scoreboard Update

Antonio Esfandiari - 43,000
Scotty Nguyen - 64,000
Sorel Mizzi - 23,800
Roland de Wolfe - 31,000
Erica Schoenberg - 25,000
Jeff Madsen - 34,000

Furst Ropes Another

Sorel Mizzi opens the pot from middle position with a rainbow raise to 1,600. The player to his right calls, and action folds around to Rafe Furst in the small blind. He opts to re-raise, pushing out 4,600 chips in total. Mizzi gets out of the way, but the man in between decides to come along to the flop.

The dealer runs the first three community cards: , and Furst leads out with 5,000 chips in continuation. His opponent pauses for a minute, shrugs, and puts in the call.

Fourth street reveals the . Furst slows down now, checking the action. With little hesitation, his foe moves all in. Furst asks for a count, which has become a lengthy process in this tournament. Slowly, the dealer counts out the stack, and announces the amount in French. It takes several tries before Furst gets an accurate English translation, and he finds out that it is a total bet of 17,625. He studies for a few minutes before making the call, tabling . The all-in player shows down and is one card away from the door.

The river does indeed seal his fate, as the fails to improve his hand. Furst claims another victim and continues his run towards the top. He is now very healthy, sitting on about 111,000 chips.

Level 8 started

Posted 09-05-2008 02:48 GMT+3

Williams Takes a False Step

A crowd begins to gather around the table of David Williams and Jean-Robert Bellande, so we make our way through the throngs of media to try and catch a glimpse.

As we peer down on the felt, the board has four cards on it, reading and there are three men involved in the pot. David Williams makes a bet of 10,000 from the big blind position. The next player folds, but the third man raises all in for a total of 38,750. Williams asks for a count, and when he finally learns the total, he splashes a stack of calling chips in the pot. His opponent turns over , drawing a disenchanted look from Williams.

"Oh, way ahead. You're way ahead," he says, as he flips over his . The river provides no help to Williams, bringing the , and separating the pro from a third of his chips. He has been knocked back down to about 70,000 after taking his first false step of the day.

132 Players Remaining

With about three minutes to play in level 7, the Day 1b field has whittled down to just 132 players, which puts the average chip stack at 38,939.

Kabbajed

A player made a raise from the cut-off to 1,100 that John Kabbaj called from the button as did the player in the big blind. The flop came .

The big blind checked before the preflop aggressor bet 2,500. Kabbaj called but the big blind folded. The turn came and both players checked so straight to the river of .

The cutoff player led out for 5,000 and Kabbaj called quickly but mucked upon seeing . Kabbaj on around 26,325 now.

Tags: John Kabbaj.